17 WSM Ammo 20 or 25 Grain?
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B1s BmagX2
Well-Known Member
I've had really good luck with the 20 grain and the 15 grain. I have never shot the 25's, actually haven't even seen any in my neck of the woods, NE Ohio. I mentioned in earlier posts about Savage tuning my old, (bought it in 2012) "pencil barrel". They used the 25 grain for accuracy testing and sent me the target with the rifle, and of course, I lost the target!! It shot a 5 round 1/2" 100-yard group at their indoor range, I'm assuming from a stationary vice?? So I guess it depends on the rifle? All you can really do is try all three, 15's, 20's, and 25's, and judge for yourself?? In both my rifles, "pencil" and bull the 15's and 20's shoot almost identical, even though their twist rates are different. I opt for the '20s because they're cheaper and easier to find. However, if trying to take down coyote I would probably look at the 25's?? But I have a custom AR in 223 Wylde that I use 223 ammo I load specifically for the task. Or my trusty Savage 112 26 inch bull 22-250 if I don't have to carry it's 25+ pounds more than 10 feet! Being in my early 70's I now have the strength of two small children! One more note, I replaced the Veridian scope on my "pencil" with an Athlon Optics Talos 3-12x40. The Veridian is a decent scope, but it got damaged when I had it off the rifle and dropped it on concrete!! ( Smooth move butterfingers!!) Any way the Athlon seems to be a notch to two above the Veridian, it tracks flawlessly and it's more compact so I guess it all worked out for the better.
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Old Hickory 45
Well-Known Member
I bedded my pencil barreled Tupperware stock Savage BMAG .17 WSM. I added two 3/16" threaded rods to the flimsy forearm and wedged the stock to center the barrel, wedging the barrel until the epoxy set up enough to remove the wedge.
The rifle grouped according to where the forearm was supported before my bedding job. Now, a stiff forearm and no variation as for POI.
Adding a new Burris 3X-9X scope and a Glades Armory bolt handle rounded out what improvements I could do at home. As for results, the rifle is still a light carry and very accurate with 20gr fodder. I haven't tried any of my 25gr and probably have no need to.
Rifle is sighted in for 50 yards and shoots tiny cloverleaf groups. It is sighted in for my main game of tree squirrel hunting and an occasional varmint.
I bought the BMAG as soon as Savage offered them and been most happy with the rifle.
Edited to add, I did the shroud upgrade when it was offered and it improved the rifle.
I was also having many misfires so I took the rifle to my gunsmith pals. True, the ammo was crap then but we figured the rifle was the main problem. We added a new firing pin and spring without any improvement so my pal Larry removed a couple of loops of the firing pin return spring because the spring was creating a bind. Presto, problem solved and no misfires since. For anyone else that starts to suffer a lot of misfires, this is something to consider.
The rifle grouped according to where the forearm was supported before my bedding job. Now, a stiff forearm and no variation as for POI.
Adding a new Burris 3X-9X scope and a Glades Armory bolt handle rounded out what improvements I could do at home. As for results, the rifle is still a light carry and very accurate with 20gr fodder. I haven't tried any of my 25gr and probably have no need to.
Rifle is sighted in for 50 yards and shoots tiny cloverleaf groups. It is sighted in for my main game of tree squirrel hunting and an occasional varmint.
I bought the BMAG as soon as Savage offered them and been most happy with the rifle.
Edited to add, I did the shroud upgrade when it was offered and it improved the rifle.
I was also having many misfires so I took the rifle to my gunsmith pals. True, the ammo was crap then but we figured the rifle was the main problem. We added a new firing pin and spring without any improvement so my pal Larry removed a couple of loops of the firing pin return spring because the spring was creating a bind. Presto, problem solved and no misfires since. For anyone else that starts to suffer a lot of misfires, this is something to consider.
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B1s BmagX2
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the tip. I had a Savage 93 (HMR) some time back that was misfiring a lot. Never thought of the return spring being the culprit? I didn't worry much at the time since I already had my first WSM so the HMR sat in the gun safe until I sold it. I've only ever experienced one misfire, out of the thousands I've shot, with the WSM and it was the ammo, a real early batch from 2013. Just for the heck of it I took the misfired round and rotated it about 180 degrees and bang! I heard the early ammo was of poor quality?? Winchester was trying to get the stuff out to market, but I was told it hardly got past the east coast. I guess the reason was certain states have laws regarding using centerfire's for varmint, so the obvious answer was the WSM?? I had also heard it's very popular in Europe?? Could be the reason Volquartsen popped up about the same time the WSM was introduced?? Another weird thing about the ammo? Since Winchester makes all of it and the other brands just put their stamp on it how the heck Hornady can ask up to $30 a box?? I've bought Winchester and American Eagle for as little as $11 a box on sale. I have found it averages about $15 so what the heck ?? I like Hornady's ammo and reloading brass and bullets, but to double the price kind of makes me think a little less of them now. It is a pretty box though!!!!
I've shot and have all three , I've killed many GH's this year with mostly 20 grain, but several with the 15 NTX, and several with the 25 grain.All three shoot pretty close , the 15 shoots a hair high and right. All will get the job done if you know where she shoots.I'm up to over 60 gh's this year and about 10 coyotes, no crawl aways yet. Going out tomorrow if I can see anything in hay or bean fields. But leaving the 17WSM home in lieu of the 17 Hornet.
B1s BmagX2
Well-Known Member
The 17 Hornet is a heck of a round! I kinda wish I hadn't sold my Ruger 77-22 Hornet. I let it go and my Savage 93 HMR when I got the WSM since it pretty much replaced them both. As an afterthought, I could have kept the 22 Hornet and had it re-barreled for the 17 Hornet. But since I do have the custom AR in 223 Wylde I guess it's not a total loss. The ballistics drop chart is almost identical to the 17 Hornet and the brass is a lot more plentiful and cheaper. But it would be fun just to have that Hornet hanging around for whenever I feel like using it. I've lost count of how many hogs I've dispatched this year so far?? Gotta be at least 75?? Mostly with the WSM. But I did nail one last week at 400+ yards with my 22-250. I'm guessing I've blown up a dozen or so with that rifle in our larger hay fields just after bailing. I have a nephew who has his rifles custom-built. He beaned one at 775 yards according to the range finder!!! He used his 6mm Ackley Improved with a 1st focal plane Night Force scope, I think it's a 6X24X50?? He doesn't mind spending 5-6 grand on a rig, but I figure the hogs don't know the difference!!! It's just amazing to see him hit something that small at that distance.. It is kind of a humbling experience!
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Old Hickory 45
Well-Known Member
My gunsmith pal and I pulled some old WSM bullets when we were figuring my BMAG problem. The primer material was spotty, some spots without primer material. Afterwards, we tried some fresh ammo and figured it was a rifle problem and fixed it. Sometimes such a combo is maddening.
B1s BmagX2
Well-Known Member
I was talking earlier about the early ammo was pretty shoddy. But I've only ever had one misfire, and it was the ammo. Savage has come a long way in the past 30 or so years, but they still lack some quality control. That being said I've had some perfect right out of the box and some not so perfect. The one factor that keeps me going back to them, besides price, is their customer support. Anytime I've had any problem they were on it! No charge, they even covered shipping. My old B-mag, circa 2012, had developed problems, and even though it was 8-9 years old at the time they fixed it, no charge. Whoever they have doing their repairs are excellent gunsmiths. As I said in an earlier thread they took that old "pencil" barrel that had developed the shotgun pattern accuracy that you hear about and turned it into a tack-driver! I was going to write it off, now it's my go-to walking varminter. Compared to say, Ruger? They are almost always perfect out of the box. I have several and they are excellently built rifles. But they don't seem to support an out-of-warranty firearm? I had some problems with my old MK II target pistol and they sent me a list of qualified gunsmiths?? Turned out to be an easy fix that I did myself. Otherwise, I would have had to drive 40 miles and pay whatever the repair would have been? Just sayin' whatever Savage lacks in quality control they really make up for in customer service!! Plus, in most cases, Savage seems to have the accuracy edge, also their actions are pretty popular for "custom" builds.
I prefer the 20gr variants.
We've got a bunch of 17WSM rifles in stock. If you're looking for a high end host... you won't find better! www.primalrights.com
We've got a bunch of 17WSM rifles in stock. If you're looking for a high end host... you won't find better! www.primalrights.com
I was out today right on the Ashland , Wayne county border, saw one GH, had less than a second before he disappeared in beans waist high, lots of signs where I was at but you can't see them. I'm going to talk to a few farmers about getting some hayfields to shoot in.
B1s BmagX2
Well-Known Member
Wow, you're almost in my neighborhood! I'm 73 so it's been a while. The farm I grew up on has been sucked up by the city on Geyers Chapel rd. just west of Wooster. The power company bought the old farm off my uncle about 3 years ago and built an office complex, equipment storage, and substation there, so all those groundhogs have been paved over! The power company did something I couldn't do in 60 years, they got rid of all the hogs in about a year!! The bulk of the farm is still hummin'. They're farmin' probably 500-600 acres southeast of Wooster between rt 250 and old 30. I live in Green now just south of Akron, I get down there at least twice a week in the summer. I have another place that I haven't been to in a while on Clark Rd. south of Wooster off Rt 83 that's kinda in Amish country gettin' closer to the Holmes county line west of Shreve just off a big game management area. It was always filthy with hogs! The problem there, a bunch of new houses have been built and that kinda' put the kibosh on that? The beans are definitely gettin' high with all the rain. Just gotta find those bald spots and there's gonna be some hogs someplace close for sure! Good Huntin'
Still lots of GH's in that area, I usually add a place or two every year by word of mouth, first thing I tell upon meeting a new farmer allowing me to shoot GH's is , I'm not interested in anything but GH's, deer and turkey hunting is highly coveted in them areas. besides my backyard is 23000 acres plenty of those other things there. Hunted near wilderness road today.
B1s BmagX2
Well-Known Member
Sounds like you got it handled, 23000 acres! At my age, and with vestibular problems, I have a hard time walking very far. 500 acres keeps me busy. I used to hunt a few farms, besides the family farm east of Wooster, south of Mansfield, around Bellville, and west up between Galion and Bucyrus. I had friends in that area. That was 50+ years ago, man now I am feeling old!! I remember around Bellville how hilly it was, and almost the opposite past Galion? I was using my first center-fire, an old Savage 243 with a Lyman fixed 10 power scope I bought used at a pawn shop for something like $65. Winchester ammo was around $5 for a box of 20. I seldom got shots over 200 yards, now I shoot that all day long with the WSM! How time and technology have changed? If anyone back then would start talking twist rates, ballistic coefficient, powder burn rates, etc I would have thought they were crazy!!
Few GH's on that acreage mostly river bottom and forest, the coyotes are thick, but I thin em out, deer ,turkey and squirrel are plentiful, no hunting pressure a plus, especially when your property is in its interior. I'll catch up with you some morning at a good breakfast place , I may soon retire from LE, about had enough, get out while on top.
